Improved clothes-wringing machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

KING H. ELLIOTT, OF EDEN, VERMONT.

IMPROVED CLOTHES-WRINGING MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,885, dated April 8,1862.

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, KING II. ELLIOTT, of Eden, in the county of Lamoilleand State of Vermont, have invented a new and Improved Clothes Vashingand Tringing Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich- .Figure l is a front view of my invention; Fig. 2, a side View ofthe same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

This invention relates to an improved clothes washing and wringingmachine of that class in which india-rubber pressurerollers areemployed, and has for its object a greater facility than hitherto inattaching the machine to the tub, and also a more convenient and perfectmode of graduating the pressure of the rollers, so that clothes ofvarious kinds and thicknesses Inay all be operated upon in a propermanner by one and the same machine.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A A represent two rollers, which are constructed of india-rubber, andare placed, respect-ively, on shafts B B. The rollers A A are placed oneover the other in the same axial plane, and the journals a afof thelower roller A are fitted in bearings ax in arms O O, one end of whichhas nuts D D attached, 011e to each, in which vertical screwrods E E arefitted. To each arm C a pendent bar F is secured permanently, and thereis also secured to each arm C a pendent bar G by means of aswivel-connection b. These swivel-connections may be formed of a pin ortenon passing loosely through the arms, headed or rivet-ed at theirupper ends, and secured at their lower ends to the upper ends of thebars G, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. The bars G are near theouter ends of the arms C, some distance from the barsl F, and in thelower end of each bar G there is iitted a cam II, provided with a handiec. (See Fig. 2.)

On each screw-rod E there is placed a loose collar H. These collars areallowed to work freely up and down on the screw-rods, and to the collarsthe bearings I of the upper rollershaft B are connected. These bearingsI are of elliptical form or oblong in a vertical direction, so as toadmit of the journals of shaft B having a certain degree of verticalplay. This is shown clearly in Fig. l.

J J represent curved springs, thel lower ends of which are permanentlyattached to the bearings I I, and through the upper ends of thesesprings the screw-rods E E pass, the springs bearing against the underside of thumb-pieces d d, which serve as stops. To one end of thejournals a of the lower rollershaft B there is secured a crank K.

The implement is used as follows: It is secured to the tub or otherarticle by placing it on the upper edge of the same, the bars F being atthe inner and the bars G at the outer side thereof, and then by turningthe cams H the latter are made to bind firmly against the outer side ofthe tub, while the bars F are drawn snugly against its inner side, aswill be fully understood by referring to'Fig. 2, in which a section ofthe tub is shown in red. In consequence of having the cam-bars Gattached to the arms C C by swivel-connections, as described, the cams Hmay be adjusted at right angles with the surface of the tub at the pointwhere they are to bear or press whatever the curvature of the tub may beand the implement rendered capable of being adjusted to either curved orplane surfaces, which is an important feature, as a rectangular box maybe used in certain cases to contain the suds instead of a round tub. Theclothes pass from the tub between the rollers A A', and are forcedbetween the latter by the rotation of the same, the operator turning thelower roller A through the Inedium of the crank K. The clothes are subjected to a greater or less pressure byturning the screw-rods E E, whichregulate the tension of the springs .l J, and as the journals of theupper roller-shaft B ,are allowed a certain degree of vertical play intheir 4bearings I I it follows as a matter of course that either end ofthe upper roller A may yield or give independent-ly of the other andsaid roller be capable of adjusting itself to the clothes while thelatter are passing under it. If the journals of the shaft B were fittedsnugly in their bearings, one would bind in its bearing as the other wasraised, and the journals be thereby bent or broken. This contingency isavoided bythe oblong or elf liptical bearings I, which admit of thejournals aforesaid assuming an oblique position in them.

It will be s een that the nuts D D of the arms C C also perform animportant function, as they admit of the screw-rods E E acting upon thesprings J .l in order to graduate their tension'and regulate thepressure of the rollers A A upon the clothes.

The device as a Whole is extremely simple and elicient,A the 'pressureof the rollers being capable of being graduated with the greatest nicetyto suit fine or coarse clothes,

so that all may be perfectly operated uponY Without detriment or anyinjury Whatever.

l do not claim, broadly or separately, the employment or use ofindia-rubber pressurerollers Ifor Washing and wringing clothes, nor do Iclaim the application of springs to said 2. The pendent iixed bars F, incombina-` tion with the swivel-bars G, With cams H at their lower ends,the above bars being attached to the arms C C of the machinefandarranged substantially as and for the purpose specified.

KING H. ELLIOTT.`

NVitnesses:

EMILY G. HILL, A JOSEPH W. ANDERSON.

